


Call Boy

by Ziallshippingislife



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, M/M, Prostitute Niall, ziall
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-01-17
Updated: 2015-04-06
Packaged: 2018-03-07 21:30:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 16,305
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3183833
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ziallshippingislife/pseuds/Ziallshippingislife
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Zayn can't help but fall in love all over again with a cute blonde boy he used to know from high school, but when Zayn learns about the boy's unfortunate situation, he will do anything to help him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Zayn sighed as he let his head fall to the side lightly, catching a glimpse of the dimly lit sky outside the library window. He frowned and tapped his fingers on the desk while slowly turning the page of his text book. It was raining, and usually he loved the gentle and soothing sound of the raindrops, but he just found it making him even more tired than he already was. 

He knew his parents were on their way to London soon to see him. He had so many things to get done and he knew that, but he was going to procrastinate all he could because even though they were his parents, and he loved them to death, he didn’t feel like seeing them at all. He was just so busy and the timing of them coming to see him couldn’t have been any worse. 

This time, he just knew they were bringing with them _another_ girl they thought would be perfect for their lonely, single son. He rolled his eyes just thinking about it. Every single time they did this, but they never took one minute to realize Zayn had no interest in them at all.

He never told his parents though, so he couldn’t exactly blame it all on them. They were only just trying to help him out, maybe finally make him happy, but Zayn didn’t want that. He did once, but that was years ago, and he doesn’t even know if the person he used to once love remembers his name anymore. It’s not like it even mattered anyway.

He wanted someone one day, but at the moment he was busy trying to better himself. How was he supposed to be close and care for someone when he was not sure of how to even take care of himself? 

It wasn’t like he wasn’t well off, his parents had been of very much help along the way, but he didn’t want to just live off of them his entire life. From a very young age he was independent, and he never wanted to just steal from his parents. His father was a very serious man, and there was nothing else on this earth that he loved more than money. Zayn was pretty sure he was behind first, his money more impotant in his father’s mind. 

It never really mattered to him now anymore. His father was never around when he was a child anyway. Zayn had his mother around, but not as often as he liked. They were always working. It consumed their lives, and Zayn accepted that fact since he was a little child, being taken care of by the maids that his father had hired. It used to bother him, but now it was just something he knew he could never change and he would have to deal with. 

When he grew up he knew he never wanted to be like his parents. He didn’t want his work and business to control his life and guide him to ignore everyone else that was a part of it. He saw family as something special that his parents never gave a second thought too. It hurt, but he knew one day he would have a beautiful husband, and kids of his own. 

Yes, a husband, that was another thing he didn’t mention to his parents. He couldn’t even begin to imagine of what his father would think. He wanted to tell him, but with all the talk and the business his father is involved in, Zayn was afraid he would shut him out of his life entirely. Zayn was lonely enough, and even though his parents would almost ruin every visit by bringing along a woman, it was still nice to see them every once in a while. 

He moved away from them, so he rarely saw them at all. He wanted more opportunity in his life, and getting out of his hometown was the first step. Now he was working with some newspaper company, writing articles and trying to explore his real abilities and talents of the sorts. He also thought about maybe being a photographer. He also was studying now at university, thinking maybe he would like to be a teacher. He wanted to do so many things, and he had so many ideas that they were bouncing off the walls inside of his head. 

He almost groaned then, thinking about the homework he had due for the next week that he knew he wasn’t going to get done. He had so many things to do in the upcoming days, and he was trying to cram it all in without depriving himself of sleep. He then took another look outside seeing the rain calming down some, and he carefully shut his book and stood up from the table he was situated at. 

When he smiled and waved goodbye to the librarian, he stepped out into the muggy air, turning his gaze to the sky as he began to walk. He knew if he didn’t make it quick then he wouldn’t be able to beat the rain. He rolled his eyes at himself because he knew he should have taken his car today. He usually didn’t want to since he only lived about two blocks away, and it saved gas and helped the environment. 

He wasn’t a wimp though, he could take the rain, but by the looks of the clouds, it seemed it was about to pour, and he had all his books and homework with him, and if those were to get wet he would be totally screwed. 

As Zayn was dropping his gaze back he accidently felt something slam into his shoulder and his folder in his left hand, which held a few sketches of artwork and a few of his photographs, went tumbling to the ground, while his eyes caught a flash of blonde also hitting the pavement. 

“Ouch.” 

Zayn blinked then looking over quickly to see a blonde boy who was laughing a little bit rubbing his elbow, while what looked to be like wincing, and was staring up at Zayn.

“Hey, oh my gosh, I’m so sorry about that.” Zayn answered instantly, throwing his hands out and grabbing the others and helping him up off his arse. Zayn had knocked him down, because once a again he was being clumsy and wasn’t watching where he was going. 

When he helped the boy to his feet he looked right into his bright eyes, and was staring at his face and now he felt really bad because for some reason his mind kept screaming at him like he knew who this was, but he couldn’t place a name to his face, and it was getting a little bit awkward, because they were both staring at each other now intently.

“S’okay, ‘m alright.” The blonde chuckled out and bent down to pick up Zayn’s folder to hand it back. His bright smile took Zayn’s breath away, and then it clicked almost instantly. 

“I know you.” Zayn blurted out, and he blushed a little bit because the other looked a little confused, but than an adorable little smile popped back onto his lips. 

“Uh, yeah. You, um, you worked at Vinny’s didn’t you?” He spoke softly, and Zayn then was nodding his head like crazy, because yes, yes, and now he knew why his heart was doing flips in his chest like crazy.

“Yeah! Niall, right?” He exclaimed, and he was really starting to get annoyed with himself because he knew he was acting like kind of a fool. His excitement was a little overwhelming, but the blonde didn’t seem to mind as he nodded along with him.

“Yeah mate, that’s me. Zayn, if I remember correctly?” He asked then, and Zayn wanted to melt as the his name came from the boy’s lips, because he remembered him. He couldn’t believe he remembered him! 

“Yeah!” Zayn almost shouted, but he tried to keep it down a little bit. He couldn’t help it. Niall. Niall Horan. He couldn’t believe he was seeing him again. Little Niall from his hometown where they went to school together for a little while and worked together for a short time too. Not to mention, he was Zayn’s first crush. Only Niall never knew that. 

“How’ve you been? What’re you doing around here? You still working for Vinny?” Zayn let the many questions tumble from his mouth and the smile on his face stretched even wider. He couldn’t help it. His heart was pounding in his ears and his eyes were stuck on the boy in front of him. 

“Oh no, I quit years ago. Actually about the time you left.” Niall spoke up then, a smile still etched onto his face as well. “I just moved here too, thought it could be interesting, anything to get me away from that shit town.” 

Zayn nodded and looked him up and down. It was amazing how much he changed. He hadn’t seen the boy since he was still in high school. He had been three years behind Zayn, and even though he was just a kid at the time, he sure as hell wasn’t anymore. 

His hair was still blonde as usual, but it seemed like his dark roots were taking over most of his pretty locks. His eyes were still the shining, beautiful, crystal blue he remembers, but his entire build and body was completely different. He wasn’t the scrawny little Niall he used to be. 

That’s why it was hard for Zayn to recognize him at first. He was a lot taller, not as tall as Zayn, but he was up to his nose at least and he had muscles now, and he was fit and hot and Zayn couldn’t stop himself from staring and he was pretty sure the other noticed, only he didn’t say anything. He wore a cut off shirt with a snapback on and Zayn couldn’t help but stare at him for the longest time, until the silence became a little uneasy. He shook his head then, knowing the boy was waiting for him to speak up now.

“Oh yeah? No shit, I had gotten a new job working with some newspaper writing articles and such, that’s why I left.” He shrugged his shoulders, not really wanting to talk about himself, but Niall smiled at him, and that made him blush a little. “How ‘bout you man, what have you been up too?” 

Zayn then could have swore he saw the boy wince a little bit, but he ignored it, blaming it on the raindrops that were now starting to fall from the sky. 

“Oh, I-uh, work with my, um parents.” He mumbled out, and Zayn nodded, not really remembering much about Niall’s home life. He really only admired the kid from afar. There was really no way Zayn could have ever gotten close to him. He had only known him for that one year in high school and their job together, but that year he spent with him really made an impact on him. 

It was hard to leave because of how attached he got to the boy and when he left he knew Niall probably wouldn’t ever really remember him. Zayn was too shy to ever really say anything to him, but when he did, it always made his heart race. That was four years ago, and now the kid should be out of high school himself. 

“Oh cool, they own a business or something?” Zayn asked then, and the blonde shrugged his shoulders. 

“Yeah, they own some insurance company. Not exactly the best job, but it pays.” He chuckled then, and Zayn did as well. He couldn’t help the flutter his heart was doing as he heard the beautiful sound. Even after all the years he spent away from him, nothing seemed to change.

“Can’t go wrong with that.” He said then. It was quiet then as the blonde just nodded his head, and they both then looked to the sky as the thunder started to rumble. 

“Yeah, well I’ve got somewhere to be, so it was nice seeing you again mate.” Niall said then with a genuine smile, but before he could even make a move Zayn had grabbed his shoulder.

“Hey, how about I get your number, then we can maybe catch up sometime?” He suggested, burning bright red, hoping that he wasn’t being a little too weird and a little too eager. He really didn’t want to let this opportunity to get close to Niall again slip away though. 

“Um, yeah, here.” He smiled and took Zayn’s phone which was resting in his other now and typed in his number. Zayn was giddy as he watched Niall put his contact in his phone, and all in all he couldn’t actually believe it was happening. 

“Cool. I’ll text you sometime next week.” Zayn said then as Niall had given him his phone back. 

“Alright,” The blonde smiled at him again, waved and then he was off as Zayn kind of watched after him. 

He was smiling so wide he couldn’t contain the happiness he felt inside. Honestly he couldn’t feel his body he was so happy, shocked and excited. His mind was still in awe because he couldn’t believe that he ran into Niall. Niall fucking Horan. The kid he never thought he had a single chance with. He knew it must have been a sign, he was given another chance to get some damn courage and make something of this. There was no way he was going to let this by him without a chance. 

He didn’t even give a shit that it was raining outside so hard that he knew his books were getting soaked. He literally cheered out as he started to head home for the day, and he thanked god that he didn’t take his car because he just ran into Niall. 

Niall Horan, the love he gave up on that came tumbling back into his life. 

~     ~     ~

Niall was always that popular kid in school that everyone liked, and as Zayn was now going through his old year book he could see exactly why. He was an athletic, smart, talented and friendly kid. He did everything in high school, and Zayn wondered how he did it. 

He was a part of the soccer team, along with being in Band, Jazz Band and Orchestra. He was involved in the art club, which Zayn had been in where he talked to Niall a few times. He also took part in the musical, and he was seriously in a lot of clubs that Zayn didn’t even feel like counting. He couldn’t even comprehend how the boy did so much. 

He was also fun to talk to. He remembered talking to Niall and how the boy would tell him of all the many things he had to do and all the things he had planned for the week. It always made Zayn not want to ask if they could maybe hang out sometime, because it seemed the boy always had things to do. It was the small talk at work as they made morning breakfast together for people who stopped by that made him smile as Niall rambled on about random things.

He was a real heart stopper too. Niall was an adorable little kid in high school, and everyone was always interested in him. Zayn had heard that Niall had been with some guy named Jack he used to go to school with, but he never wanted to know about it. He hated thinking about Niall with someone else. He knew Niall liked the confident funny one’s though. That’s why Zayn never even tried. He was quiet, and he never really wanted to put himself out there. He sighed then thinking about it. High School made his head hurt. 

He sipped his tea then just sitting at his table. He picked up his phone going through his contacts and stared at the number that was under the name **Niall Horan**. He wanted to text him. It had been a few days since his encounter with the boy, but he didn’t want to seem way to overly excited about this. It probably was a little bit strange for him.

Some kid he barely knew getting all giddy about knocking him on his ass and then asking for his number? Yeah, Zayn was pretty sure if he was on the other end he would think he was the biggest weirdo on this entire earth. 

He bit his lip then, and let his fingers tap open a message. He had to do it. It would be alright, right? It had been a few days after all, and besides, his parents were going to be at his home anytime now, so he needed a reason to smile, and he knew if he saw Niall’s name pop up on his screen he would be more than thrilled, even with his parents nagging him about cleaning up his house, and getting a real job, and finding someone to make him happy. 

He quickly typed his message and immediately sent it, wanting to get a response. He couldn’t help but bite his fingernails, and after about ten minutes of trying to busy himself by picking up a little, his parents were already ringing his doorbell. He sighed and looked over to see that he didn’t have a single message. He frowned, but he pocketed his phone and moved to the door to open it to see his mother and his father with smiling faces, and another person who he thought would have been a girl he had never met before, but he smiled wide as he looked at her face.

“Safaa.” He gushed out surprised as the little girl ran into his arms and hugged him tight. He hadn’t seen his little sister in over three months, and he couldn’t believe she was here now standing in his arms.

“Zaynie, I missed you.” She said then, grabbing onto him harder, and he couldn’t help but hug back even tighter, picking her up off the floor and spinning her around. The girls rarely ever came to see him since they were out doing there own things in different parts of the country. His little sister was still in school though, and he knew she couldn’t just be missing to come see her brother.

“I missed you too. You didn’t tell me you were coming over.” 

“It was a surprise! I wanted to surprise you, and it looks like it worked.” She smiled, and tapped Zayn on his cheek where the corner of his lips ended, turned up in a giant grin. He let out a chuckle then.

“I sure am. I’m happy you’re here.”

“Me too.” She said and then buried her head in Zayn’s chest again. He then remembered his parents were there and he smiled at them and invited them inside. 

As the night went on, it went rather well than Zayn had expected. It was exceptionally great because his mother and father didn’t invite some random person he didn’t know into his home for once. He didn’t even ask either. He didn’t want to ruin the moment with the question, giving them the wrong impression that he was looking forward to it. Rather instead, he gushed about how glad he was to see his sister. 

Throughout the whole night Zayn never really got an answer from Niall, and it put a little damper on his mood, because he really did want the blonde to answer. He sighed thinking that maybe the boy was never going to text back. He knew it was a long shot for Niall to even think about him again. He had probably already forgot that he ran into an old sort-of-friend, and that kind of hurt Zayn a little bit. 

His parents stayed until late, almost midnight, because they had already needed to be back to their home the next day. There was no way his father would miss one day of work, even if it was for him to see his son. Money was more important to him. Zayn knew that, and it hurt a bit, but he shrugged it off like usual. 

When it was time for them to leave he hugged both of his parents tight, because he knew he wouldn’t see them for another few months until Christmas. He was still trying to figure out what he was doing. He barely had any vacation time, but he did want to spend it with his family. Living in London with a decent job had it perks, but also it’s down sides. 

Zayn checked his phone again and let out a depressed sigh before he left it on the table as he jumped into his bed to get to sleep. Niall still had not contacted him back. He didn’t really want to think about it, but then again maybe he was just being a baby. 

Maybe Niall was busy, and he couldn’t text him? Maybe he was sleeping? Maybe he was working? There could have been many possible reasons on why Niall hadn’t texted him back. 

Zayn didn’t want it to be a possibility that maybe he just didn’t want too. 

~ ~ ~ ~ 

Zayn tried to forget, but it seemed like no matter how hard he tried he couldn’t get that beautiful blonde out of his mind. He had accepted that Niall was never going to answer back. He knew it was a long shot in the first place, so he just moved on. Well was trying too at least.

He was working now, trying to get his mind straight writing some article about how the dog shelter across town was neglecting the needs of the animals, trying to get people’s attention so that maybe they would help. 

He couldn’t think right though, and everything he seemed to type out, he would just get rid of it. Nothing seemed to flow right in his words, and nothing seemed capturing enough. He didn’t need to get fired from this job. Right now it was all he had, and he couldn’t do without it.

It was halfway through the day now, and Zayn was getting ready to go to lunch, and he almost jumped and fell out of his chair when a loud mouthed fool bounced into his office area.

“Malik!” A loud voice boomed through his ears, and he rolled his eyes and flushed a bit as people were staring over at them with irritated glances. The people at this place weren’t exactly the kindest, so Zayn never really made friends, but on the other hand there was one person who did try and make the mood in the place rise a bit. Zayn sighed as he looked over his shoulder. 

“Louis, c’mon mate, you scared me.” He said, trying not to show a little bit of a smile. Louis laughed then and clapped Zayn on the back. 

“Well you’re late! It’s time for lunch!” Zayn smiled now, because even though this was probably the most boring day out of the entire year, Louis was still in such a great mood. It made Zayn a little bit jealous. It seemed like everything for the brunette went quite well in his life. He never had a single doubt or one complaint. He was always happy and giggly, and it made Zayn feel better when he was around him. 

“Harry’s waiting for us too, we should get going you know how he gets!” Louis spoke up as Zayn was trying to pack his stuff away. He was practically trying to drag him out the door, and Zayn couldn’t keep up.

“Just let me grab my phone and then we can go.” Zayn told him, and Louis was practically bouncing in his shoes waiting for him. He knew the boy was so jumpy and anxious because Harry was waiting for them and Louis had a little love thing for this guy. He would never admit it, but it was kind of obvious, because whenever he was around his good mood shot up to it’s limits. 

As they walked on Louis talked and talked about so many things that Zayn couldn’t exactly keep up with everything, but he continued to nod, and laughed at a few things he did catch in the boy’s speech. They were going to the regular pizza place down the street that had the most delectable food in the entire world. Zayn loved it, and was very glad that Harry had introduced them to the perfect place. 

As they sat down while Zayn watched Louis smile and blush a little bit as he said hi to Harry he checked the time on his phone, and while doing so he saw that someone had texted him. He thought maybe it was his boss or his sister because usually the only people who ever text him were with him at the moment.

When he saw who it was though his heart stopped and a smile broke out wide onto his face. 

“What are you all smiles about?” Harry asked instantly, and Zayn looked up surprised. How long had he been staring at his phone for him to say that... 

“It’s nothing, just this, person, texted me back, and I didn’t think-” He tried to explain, and as soon as he let the words slip from his mouth he wished he could have taken them back. Harry was a curious person, and he knew he wasn’t going to let him off the hook until he told him every single detail of every single thing. 

“Oh yeah? Someone you like?” Zayn wanted to roll his eyes because Harry was getting way too excited about this. He could even see Louis starting to take an interest.

“Well, yeah, maybe.” He shrugged picking up the menu pretending to read it because he really didn’t want to tell them about Niall yet. He wasn’t even sure what he was going to say. He could have texted back _“Leave me alone”_ or something like _“What do you want”._

Now he was nervous and bit his lip, because what if he really didn’t feel like talking to Zayn? 

“Tell us mate!” Louis almost screamed then, making Zayn jump a little bit. “C’mon this is actually surprising coming from you.” 

“Why’s that?” Zayn retorted instantly, giving Louis a wonder filled glance. Louis just chuckled at him though. 

“Well in the few years we’ve known you, we’ve never seen or even heard of a person you were interested in.” Louis stated, sounding serious. Zayn adverted his gaze and sighed. 

It was true though. He never really was interested in anyone else, and it wasn’t really his fault. He never really went out, so how was he supposed to meet anyone? He was busy all the time with work and school, and honestly he just didn’t really care. If he met someone then he met someone, but now that he actually ran into someone, and that someone happened to be someone he really used to have a liking for, well now he was interested. 

He blushed a little bit then thinking of the blonde and he placed the menu back in it’s place, and looked down at his fingers tracing them in figure eights on the table. He couldn’t help it, it was something he did when he was nervous. He avoided eye contact and tried to distract himself. His father always yelled at him for such behavior, but he never really threw away the habit, even as he got older.

“His name’s Niall.” He told them quietly. “I ran into him the other day, and I was shocked as hell to even see him.” Louis and Harry leaned in, trying to hear him and they both had devilish smiles on their faces knowing they were going to milk Zayn of every single thing he had in his brain of this so called Niall. 

“Wait, so this isn’t a new guy?” Harry asked then, smirking at Louis, who in turn was getting ready to probe for more information. 

“Well not technically. We went to high school together, and we used to work at some place back in our hometown, and then I accidentally ran into him the other day.” Zayn let his mind travel back to the night he knocked Niall on his cute little ass. Zayn blushed then and hid his face in his hands. He wasn’t even sure what he was so embarrassed about, but he couldn’t help it.

“Ooo, so have you guys been keeping in touch now?” Louis waggled his eyebrows and Zayn had to laugh at that. 

“Well, he just texted me back after like two days.” He nodded towards his phone, and his heart once again was starting to hammer because he still hadn’t checked the message, and he was still unsure of what it was going to say. 

“Hmm, playing hard to get.” Harry pointed out, but Zayn shook his head instantly. 

“No, he was just, you know busy.” He blabbered out, because he didn’t want to think that way. He didn’t want that to be true. He didn’t want to think Niall didn’t want any contact with him. He would be hurt if it was. So he tried to steer his mind towards some other possibilities. “He said he had somewhere to be the other night when I bumped into him.”

“Somewhere to be?” Louis asked then, and Zayn was quick to answer.

“Yeah, he didn’t say what, but apparently he’s working with his parents now.” Zayn informed them, even though he really didn’t even need too. He wasn’t even sure what he was talking about now. Why did they even care? His head was starting to hurt, and he was starting to get really warm as his blushing wouldn’t stop. He had no idea why he was so nervous at the moment. 

“Well, did you text him back?” Louis asked then, trying to reach out for Zayn’s phone, but instantly Zayn grabbed it and kept it close glaring at Louis again. Said boy frowned and rolled his eyes at his friend who was now swatting at his hand. 

“No, not yet.” Zayn mumbled looking at the message which said _“Hey !”_

Zayn couldn’t contain the smile he had coming to his lips because he said _hey._ Not _get away_ , or _leave me be_ or anything he actually said something along the lines of starting a conversation which meant he wanted to talk to him and Zayn knew he was being absolutely ridiculous but this was actually happening and he bit his lip trying not to show how stupidly excited he was inside. 

“Well, what did he say to you!” Louis continued to bug him as he saw Zayn tapping out a reply, but he continued to ignore him, that was until he threw the menu at his head and Zayn looked up at him with annoyed eyes.

“Nothing yet! Jeez, you guys are more excited about this than I am.” Zayn pointed out slouching in his seat as Harry laughed.

“Our little Zayn is falling in love that’s why!”

“I’ve been in love with someone before, I just left and I thought I’d never see him again.” Zayn told them, and they both were staring at him with these love sick faces that made him wanna throw up. 

“Awh that’s so adorable!” Louis cooed at him. “Does he know?” He questioned almost instantly after, going into a serious tone. 

“What?” Zayn sat up now, “No! He doesn’t know anything.” 

“C’mon Zayn we could double date!” Harry was now hooking an arm over Louis’ shoulder, and Zayn could have swore he saw a blush form on his cheeks as Harry continued to speak. “Me, you, Louis and your new man!” 

Zayn was shaking his head back and forth though. There was no way he was letting Niall meet his friends yet. Not in anyway was he going to let them because he knew as soon as they opened their mouths and introduced themselves they would be telling Niall how great he and Zayn would be together. Harry would go on about how he should date Zayn and Louis would go on about how in love he was with him. 

They would embarrass him to hell and back, and he was pretty sure Niall was freaked out enough and he didn’t want to make that any worse than it already was. 

“I swear to god, you’re not meeting him, and even if you happen too, you’re not going to say one word or I will kill both of you. He already thinks I’m weird enough.” Zayn said, but all they did was laugh at their friend’s warning. 

“Oh, Zayn, I doubt that.” 

“I was acting so weird when we ran into each other, I was so embarrassing.” He admitted, running his hand through his hair because it was true. He knocked the kid down, and he knew he was being overly excited about seeing him, which probably scared him. He looked to his friends though to see them shaking their heads. 

“I bet he thinks he acted the same way. I remember when I met you it was hard to form a coherent sentence because it’s no secret that you’re hot as fuck Zayn.” Louis told him, and that made Zayn laugh, and he took a glance over at Harry and smiled even wider seeing him tense at the others words.

“Shut up, Louis.” Zayn chuckled, rolling his eyes. 

“I’m serious!”

“Ask him if he wants to go out sometime.” Harry broke in then, and Zayn looked at him with wide scared eyes. 

“What?” “He just texted you back.” He motioned towards Zayn’s phone that was placed down, which was buzzing on the table. “Do it.” Harry’s eyes were serious, but Zayn was shaking his head back and forth like crazy. 

How could he ask Niall out? How could he even think about something like that? Niall didn’t even know him that well anymore, why would he say yes to going out with a stranger? Not to mention the fact that he was moving way to fast right now.

He just ran into him for the first time in years, having barely known him in the first place and what if he scared him off with being to forward? Zayn bit his lip but Harry’s eyes were locked on him, with forcefulness seeping from them. 

“No I can’t! There’s-he-he won’t say yes.” He stuttered, and he wanted to slap himself, because now he couldn’t even form a damn sentence together without stuttering. 

“Yes he will! Now do it!” Harry ordered him, but Zayn was still shaking his head and almost shaking all over because he had typed it out and was staring at it. 

“Harry, I-I can’t. ” 

“Zayn fucking do it.” Louis and Harry both told him, and with both of them going to lunge for his phone themselves he tensed and sent the message.

“Fine!” 

Now he was freaking out inside. 

“Let me see.” Harry grabbed his phone from his hand now and Zayn yelped in surprise. 

“I did it! God, there, are you happy?” He asked as Harry smiled reading the message for himself. 

“I’ve never seen you so nervous before, man you really are head over heels for this guy.” Louis giggled then, and Zayn sighed out. Maybe he was acting like a bit of a nervous reck, but he couldn’t help it. There was something about Niall that made his damn heart race every single time he even thought about him. 

He just asked him out now. On a date. A date with just him. Zayn and Niall. His heart was pounding now and he was pretty sure he was sweating, or it was just really hot in the pizza place now. They hadn’t even ordered yet because they had been badgering Zayn about Niall the entire time! 

His mind was starting to spasm. 

“He’s gonna think I’m weird oh my god, I barely knew him-I barely know him now! We went to school together for a year-fuck what am I even doing! I hate you guys, you-”

“Wait is he older than you?” Harry asked then, looking at him with a weird smile. 

“No he’s three years younger than me.” Harry nodded, but Louis let out a small chuckle. 

“Ooo, Zayn’s a pedo.” 

“Shut up! I am not!” He screamed back at him.

“So you’re twenty one, so he’s what, nineteen?” Louis questioned, counting out the ages on his fingers.

“He should be, I think his birthday passed this year already.” Zayn informed them, and they both nodded. 

“Well I know if some older hot guy was asking me out I sure as hell would say yes.” Louis stated, sounding like he wished something like that would happen to him, but Zayn wasn’t even listening to him anymore as he heard his phone buzzing. 

He quickly picked it up and his heart was racing and he was shaking so bad almost to the point where he dropped his phone, but when he saw the answer his eyes widened.

“He-He said yes.” He whispered out, and Louis and Harry cheered for him then, grabbing his phone to see for themselves. There was a smile on his face and everything, and the two were smiling so wide at their friend who was blushing like crazy and had a stupidly giant grin on his lips. 

“He-said-Tuesday-free-he-” Zayn couldn’t even breathe at the moment, and he knew he was acting like a girl who was seeing her favorite celebrity for the first time but he didn’t even care. His heart was soaring and he was honestly trying not to pass out because he said yes. He said fucking yes. 

“Zayn breathe you fucking dork.” Harry chuckled at him. 

“I can’t- he actually- said yes.” He grabbed his phone back and was staring at the message. 

_“Yeah, I’d love too (:”_

“Well it seems, if this all works out, you got yourself a cute little boy toy now, huh?” Harry teased him then, because he knew he could get Zayn to blush even darker and he laughed when it worked. 

“Don’t say that.” He mumbled out and he smacked Louis’ hand when he pinched his cheek. 

“Awh, Zayn I’m happy for you man you’re glowing.” 

The waiter then came over and they ordered their food, and Zayn couldn’t even pay attention to the rest of the conversations that his friends were having. All he could think about was Niall, and how he was actually taking him out. It was a date. He said yes, and now he had to figure out what the hell he was even going to say, because what do you say after all these years? 

He wasn’t even sure how he was going to act in front of him. If he couldn’t stop acting like an idiot now, how was he supposed to contain himself when he was with him in person?

As they ate their lunch and even walked back to their office building Zayn couldn’t get Niall off his mind, along with the fact that Tuesday was only three days away. 

His breath almost hitched in his throat when he saw Niall had texted him back again. 

_“I really like movies, just in case you were wondering,”_

~      ~      ~      

Tuesday came around faster than Zayn thought, and now as he was standing in front of Niall’s apartment door where he was freaking out. He cleared his throat gently, and then slowly lifted a shaking hand to knock on the white door, which was labeled A303. 

He let out a pent up breath and he tried to calm himself down. He closed his eyes and unclenched his fists, and grimaced at the way he could feel how his palms were clammy. His mind was running overboard at this point in time though. 

Throughout the past three days he had been thinking about this moment nonstop. He wanted to make sure that tonight was the best date that Niall ever could possibly have. He wanted to make a good impression, he wanted to impress him as well. 

Louis and Harry tried to convince him that he would be fine, and that everything would go well, but even he wasn’t so sure. He was a master at fucking things up, so something could very well possibly go wrong. He was pretty sure his dreams had mapped out every single awful scenario that could happen. That usually happened when his mind couldn’t stop having panic attacks.

He opened his eyes then, taking in a deep breath now, seeing that the door handle was twisting open and when he caught the sight of the blonde brightly standing in front of him with a huge smile on his face, his heart beat started to slam against his ribs.

“Hey.” Niall spoke, a shy smile appearing and he could see the tint of a blush on his cheeks, and Zayn couldn’t help his slightly agape mouth, because he was just staring at him in awe.

“Hey.” He breathed back to him, and Niall now tore his eyes away, blushing a little deeper under Zayn’s hard gaze. He couldn’t help it though. He was dressed in a blue and white checkered flannel, opened with a white shirt underneath. He was adorable, and Zayn couldn’t keep his eyes off his perfectly styled hair, and his beautiful wide eyes, which were currently staring at the wall beside them. 

“So,” Niall chuckled then, to sort of end the slight awkwardness in the air. 

“You look, great.” Zayn choked out then, wanting to say it but then again wanting to keep quiet, just in case it was weird to say. He was always afraid he was going to say something to scare him away, and he never wanted that. He spoke the truth though. He looked amazing, and when the shorter boy smiled and bit his lip Zayn felt his heart flutter. 

“Thanks, so do you, like, real good.” The blonde let out then, and Zayn could see the nervousness in his eyes, which made him calm down a little. It was nice to know that he was just as anxious about this date. He swallowed thick then. He still couldn’t believe this was a date. He was still shocked he had even agreed to go out with him.

“Thank you.” Zayn spoke, and the shyest smile came to Niall’s lips and it made Zayn’s heart burst. 

“So, should we go?” Zayn asked him, and Niall was nodding immediately.

“Y-Yeah, where are we going exactly?” Niall closed the door behind him, and Zayn shrugged his shoulders as they started to walk down the hallway to the short stairs.

“You said you liked movies, right?” He asked with a smile, and Niall looked over to him with once again another shy appearance on his adorable face.

“Yeah, movies are nice.” He giggled a bit, and Zayn couldn’t believe how perfect he was. He was cute beyond belief, but also the hottest thing he had ever seen. It was almost unfair of how completely flawless he was, and honestly Zayn was terrified he was going to make a fool of himself in front of him.

He ended up smiling back and nodding, as they headed out towards his car, and were off towards the little movie theater that was around the corner. It was pretty close, and maybe they could have taken a walk there, but he was afraid that maybe it would have started raining and even though it would have been amazing to see the boy wet from head to toe, Zayn was sure Niall wouldn’t like it too much. 

Zayn couldn’t help but glance over to see Niall staring out the window playing with his fingers. Zayn bit his lip, really hoping that he would have a good time. He wanted to keep doing this. He wanted to take Niall so many places, and see that pretty smile and adorable face as much as he could. 

The car ride was almost dead silent, and Zayn sighed thinking maybe he should have spoken up, but he had no idea what to even say. He really wanted to make conversation but he couldn’t get the words to form and come out of his mouth. 

When they arrived Niall almost jumped out of the car, and Zayn had to quickly follow after him. He once again cleared his throat and hopped up right next to the blonde and his heart was racing again. He needed to say something, even if it was about the stupid damn weather, he didn’t care, but the silence was killing him, and he was scared shitless that Niall was already having a bad time. 

“So I was thinking maybe we could see that new movie, where that guy continues to wake up and relives the same day over and over and over when he dies, I can’t exactly remember what it was called, but it looked really good and I think it would be awesome if we can see it.” Niall spoke, glancing over at the other boy.

Zayn’s eyes went wide as Niall beat him to making a suggestion on a movie, his mouth hanging open a bit as Niall was looking at him waiting for him to agree or to get his approval. 

“Or- we could go see a scary movie, there’s a few of those, or maybe we can go see a drama, but I really like action, but I mean you can choose whatever you would like, because I like everything.” Niall smiled at him, and Zayn was shocked too see that every single nerve that Niall had pent up had disappeared completely. 

“I-I don’t mind.” Zayn said swallowing nervously once again, now even more nervous as Niall’s confidence grew. “I think the one you want to see is that one right there?” He questioned pointing at one of the movie choices, and he looked over to see Niall beaming with happiness.

“Yeah! That one, The Edge of Tomorrow!” He babbled out smiling at Zayn again. “So is that okay? You want to see that?”

“Yeah it’s perfect.” Zayn told him, with a smile of his own now, and he couldn’t help it getting wider when Niall’s cheeks reddened. 

As they approached to buy their tickets, Niall was fishing out his wallet, and before he could even open it Zayn pushed his hand back to stop him. 

“I asked you out, I’m paying.” He assured him, and Niall was shaking his head. 

“N-No it’s alright, I can pay.” 

“Nope, I got it.” Zayn told him, and proceeded to pay for both his and Niall’s tickets. Zayn’s heart once again soared when he caught that beautiful pink blush on Niall’s cheeks and his thankful eyes staring at him as he handed the small girl behind the glass the money. 

As they walked to theater number seven, where they pointed towards to watch their movie, Zayn was really thinking about taking Niall’s smaller hand into his. His nerves were running crazy as the blonde’s swinging hand was unattended looking to be intertwined with someone else’s. He decided against it though and bit his lip, thinking maybe the blonde wouldn’t like that.

He hated this stupid feeling inside of his stomach. He wished he could be confident and proud but he instead he was given nervousness while reminding himself of all his insecurities. Niall was radiating beauty and perfection, and he was way too perfect for someone like him.

He was gorgeous, absolutely stunning, especially with that smile upon his lips, and Zayn couldn’t even understand why he would have even agreed to go to the movies with him tonight. He wanted to be just as perfect and confident, but he couldn’t even get the courage to grab this boy’s hand without having a heart attack. 

He didn’t want to be too forceful and he didn’t want to make it obvious he was so nervous and sick to his stomach. He was embarrassing enough already.

When they were able to sit down with the entire place almost empty, Zayn’s insides began to settle as he watched Niall’s enlightened face glancing around the theater. Niall quickly ran up and beckoned Zayn to follow him so they could sit right in the middle of the place so they could watch the giant screen which was lighting up Niall’s bright eyes.

Zayn’s heart practically burst when he felt Niall’s nimble fingers brush against the back of his warm hand. His smile spread all the way across his face as the lights dimmed, the movie was beginning, and their fingers intertwined. 

~     ~     ~

Zayn quickly learned how much Niall loved Action and science fiction movies. As soon as the movie’s ending credits were rolling Niall’s excited face was all Zayn could focus on. He was spitting out words on how awesome it was, and Zayn was listening, he really was, but his adorable face was really captivating. 

Their hands were still wrapped in each other’s while they were making their way toward the outside, and as soon as they did they noticed the rain pouring from the sky. Niall groaned along with Zayn which made them both chuckle. 

“Wait here, and I’ll get the car, okay?” Zayn told him, and Niall nodded with that shy smile once again. Zayn noted how every time he did something for the blonde that shy smile would pop onto his luring lips. 

Zayn had made a mad dash for the car, sprinting in the rain the droplets bouncing off his skin. Without a hood or a jacket on, his shirt was drenched. He sighed, it really had been coming down and he knew something like this would happen. 

He shook his hair then with the water flinging off of him, knowing it was messed up and gross looking now, and he started the engine, knowing that Niall was waiting, and he sure as hell didn’t want to keep that beautiful boy waiting for too long. 

When he pulled up to the sidewalk though, his eyes casted over to where Niall was and he also noticed how Niall was being accompanied by someone else, a guy for that matter. 

Zayn’s breath hitched in his throat. 

He was much taller than Niall, his towering height climbing high over the boy below. His heart burned for a second, seeing the man so close to the little blonde, and when his hand reached out to touch the boy’s hip, that’s where his blood began to sizzle. 

Zayn’s eyes narrowed especially when Niall winced and retracted from the man. His mind was racing with rage then. He couldn’t believe this fucking guy. He left Niall for one minute, and some creep was already attached to his side. 

Zayn instantly hopped out of the car, not waiting a second and was running now, catching sound of the loud voice of the strange man and Niall’s soft tone. 

“D-Don’t touch me.” The plea inside of his voice, along with his nervous eye’s catching Zayn, who was sprinting towards them hastily, was scaring the raven haired boy a bit. Niall look paled, probably because of the way the man was still grabbing at his petite hips. 

“Didn’t seem to have a problem with it the other night, did you baby?” The man spoke, winking at him, and Niall had a disgusted and terrified look upon his face and pushed him back, causing him to gasp but chuckle a little bit, since his push was fruitless.  


“Seriously, leave me alone, get away from me.” Niall said again, more stern this time, trying to back away but the man’s hold was strong and forceful, and he was not showing any signs of letting go. Niall had winced then, trying to pry the hands off of him. 

“Awh, c’mon darlin’ don’t be like that.” The man growled darkly into the blonde’s ear and Niall was squirming and struggling, his face completely filled with fear. The dirty hands of the man dragging him in, the smell of alcohol present on him was sickening.

“I said stop touching me!” 

“C’mon babe, don’t you want a repeat of the other night. I had a great time.” He suggested, and when he removed one of his filthy hands to bring it up to hold Niall’s chin in his fingers, that’s when Zayn stepped up and ripped Niall away. 

The blonde gasped, his eyes wide seeing Zayn pulling him to his side away from the disgusting pervert groping him. He stood closely then, and was instantly cowering behind the boy. Zayn was furious, and he knew he looked it since his face felt hotter than a burning oven, knowing it was beet red. 

“Get your fucking hands off him!” He seethed, pushing the man back now with him actually stumbling to catch his balance from the force this time. 

The vile words from the man’s tongue made Zayn’s blood boil, and filled him with pure anger. The way his repulsive hands were dancing across his body made him outraged. The scared expression brought to Niall’s pretty face was unacceptable. 

“Hey man, back off.” He sounded annoyed, and Zayn clenched his fists getting ready to knock this guy right on his ass.

“How about you back off, and get the fuck away from him.” He sneered, taking a step forward, making the man retreat back.

He wasn’t about to let Niall get victimized and he was getting ready to pummel this guy if he made anymore moves towards the smaller lad. His words were bullshit and insulting and Zayn wasn’t standing for that. 

“Zayn, don’t.” Niall spoke quietly then, grabbing onto his arm and pulling him away. His eyes were filled with anxiety, and Zayn bit his lip seeing the emotions resting on his face. 

“How much are you paying, huh?” The man spoke then and Niall’s eyes shot wide along with Zayn’s repeating the exact same. His head turned slowly then to look at the man flipping through his wallet, and Zayn’s jaw dropped to the soaked ground. 

“What?” He questioned, the anger still present in his tone. 

“Zayn, p-please, let’s just go-” Niall was fretfully begging now, trying to pull Zayn away, but the guy was now making offers and Zayn couldn’t believe his ears.

“Listen baby,” He spoke, trying to grab a hold of Niall’s attention, “I’ll pay twice as much as I did last time to have you again tonight, whatever he’s payin' I know it’s not as much as I’m willing to offer.” He smirked, holding a wad of cash in his hands, and Zayn couldn’t begin to comprehend what was happening. 

His eyes cast over to the blonde seeing his eyes shining, and his heart tore when he noticed that it wasn’t the moon light shining up the beautiful blues, it was the tears resting inside of them, beginning to break free and fall freely down his pink stained cheeks.

It couldn’t be true. What this guy was saying was a lie. It was a mistake. There was no way, there was _no fucking way_ that Niall Horan, cute little Niall was a-

“Seriously mate, how much are you paying for this whore?” The man interrupted his thoughts, and Zayn instantly snapped. His clenched hands that had never loosened came up lightening fast and connected with his jaw. 

Zayn was bewildered and his eyes were wild, and he was pretty sure he heard a snap and Niall definitely screamed, but he wasn’t going to let this piece of trash say those things about Niall. There wasn’t anyway in fucking hell. 

“How dare you, you piece of shit I ought to kick your fucking ass!” He spat, and the guy on the ground was wiping away the blood which was now pouring from his mouth, and Zayn wanted to continue beating the asshole, but he could feel Niall pulling him away again, his shaking hands gripping at his upper arm. 

“Z-Zayn please, I want to leave.” He pleaded, whispering to the taller boy, and Zayn’s muscles seemed to relax at Niall’s soft touch, turning back to look into his pretty eyes, his rage seeming to only grow when he thought about the man calling Niall those disrespectful words. 

He saw the look inside Niall’s eyes, the begging and pleading finally breaking Zayn away as he was nodding his head. 

He allowed the blonde to pull him away, but instantly retracted his hands away from him, and Zayn didn’t like it one bit. Especially when he noticed the far away glance in his eyes and the faint blush on his cheeks. The isolating distance being portrayed as he walked as far away from Zayn as he could was hurting his heart. 

But not as much as those words which were ringing inside of his thoughts over and over again, having a hard time imagining Niall like that, and when he glanced over to see the smaller blonde boy with his arms crossed over his body like a guard, with a nervous but also an embarrassed, upset pout accenting his beautiful face, he bit his lip and looked away.  


There was just no way...  



	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What Louis was proposing was absolutely insane, but then again it wasn’t so preposterous because he had actually given some thought into the idea himself.
> 
> But it was that same possibility that was nagging at the back of his head all day long which was driving him crazy. What if it was true?

Zayn hadn’t seen Niall in a week, and he was slowly tearing out each hair on his head one by one, biting his lips until there was nothing left, and clawing at his skin until it glowed bright red. It was borderline agonizing not even hearing one word from him once since he dropped him off at his apartment.

The blonde had said nothing on the silent ride home from their date last week yet also Zayn hadn’t said anything to spark a conversation. He could only see the despair in his eyes, and the tension in his body language. He had no idea what to even say to the boy. The entire night had messed with Zayn’s mind because was that man serious, or was he just being an asshole?

The question inside of him wouldn’t break away from his mind, and neither would the cute little blonde who was circling his thoughts every single second of his day. He couldn’t even keep on his tasks at work, his boss throwing him out at the end of the day because he didn’t complete a single article. 

It was frustrating to say the least, and with Niall not answering his texts, it was even worse making his heart do this sad little flip inside of his chest every time he saw he had no messages. 

He knew it was hopeless. That night had ended in such disaster, and Zayn punching that guy and scaring Niall probably wasn’t his best decision he ever made. The distraught and upset look that had rested on the boy’s pretty face had bothered Zayn so bad it was hard for him to sleep at night. He had just wanted to protect the boy, and what the man had said was out of line. 

But now he felt as if he was dwelling on it a little too much. The hope of him contacting him back was fading away, and it depressed him even more, because once again he lost the only real person he ever really liked. So now he really needed to distract his mind to help him through the day. 

Zayn was now throwing on his jacket and shoving his phone inside of his pocket, almost opting to leave it home since he couldn’t get his brain to stop screaming at him about the blue eyed blonde as he checked his phone every other minute. He was leaving his home now, getting ready to meet Harry and Louis. The two had planned a day out for him, knowing about his reck of a situation. 

He hadn’t even chosen to tell the two about his disastrous date, but his moping and sulking had them picking at him until he gave in about a couple of details. And right now he didn’t really feel like dragging himself out to the shops, but Louis would have a fit if he didn’t get his ass out of his house for a day. 

As he walked outside, he saw his friends waiting for him across the street, rolling his eyes when he saw Louis waving at him like a complete fool as usual. His grin was so wide he could see it from where he was standing, and that had actually put a smile on his own face. The kid’s cheerful moods and bright personality were very contagious sometimes. 

“Well, well, look who came out to play.” Louis mocked, while kicking his shoe into the dirt, leaning into Harry’s side. 

“I could go back in you know, it isn’t too late.” Zayn retorted rolling his eyes, as he approached the both of them, and he couldn’t help the smirk that rose to his lips when he saw their hands intertwined. 

“Oh c’mon Zayn, he’s just teasing you.” Harry winked at him then, the damn bastard was practically glowing, and he had a pretty decent idea as to why. He knew there had been something going on between the two of the imbecile’s lately, but he hadn’t really thought either of them would have made a move so fast. 

Zayn just shrugged his shoulder though, and they began to walk their way down to the mall two blocks over. He mentally groaned as Louis was beginning his babbling, the words pouring out of his mouth and bashing through Zayn’s ears until he couldn’t bare it anymore. He had already gotten enough at work, so hanging out with him after hours was definitely putting his mind into overtime. 

It was easy to block out though, unlike other days, because his hand was toying with his phone inside of his pocket waiting and hoping it would buzz or ring. He was even debating on if he should call Niall and invite him with them. He bit his lip, because he really wanted to. 

He wanted to see him badly, he wanted to talk to him, hell just knowing if he was still around would be great, but he knew the blonde wouldn’t answer. It was fruitless, and he had no idea why he was still thinking of trying to contact him. It was obvious things between them would never rise again. He was pretty damn sure that he would never actually hear from him again either. 

“Hey Z, you doin’ alright?” Harry questioned then, his thoughts interrupted by his careful voice. Zayn hadn’t even noticed he had dropped a couple feet behind the pair, as his eyes were plastered to the uneven ground, and his mind was somewhere else. He looked up though to see a sympathetic Harry and a concerned Louis. 

“Yeah, sorry, I just, yeah.” He answered lamely, wincing at how pathetic he sounded. He picked up his pace then, and gave the two a weak smile, knowing they wouldn’t buy into it, but it was worth a shot.

“Listen mate, I know you’re gutted about Niall but-” Louis tried to comment, but was interrupted. 

“I’m not, I’m fine.” Zayn cut in, the fake upturn of his lips that were coated in happiness remained on his face, not wanting to bring anymore attention to the matter. He needed to get over it, and he knew that, he didn’t need to hear it from his friends too. 

Harry nodded then, smiling back at him, but Louis’ expression hadn’t altered, and Zayn knew the look in his eye was telling him they were going to talk later, but he tried to ignore it and continued his way ahead. 

Maybe Louis could see through his deception that Harry couldn’t quite catch, but he didn’t want to ruin this day for his friends, and maybe it was good getting a distraction from these two, even if it was to do something he really hated. 

Besides, he sure as hell needed one or he was going to go insane. 

 

~ ~ ~

Louis’ worried eyes hadn’t left his movements all afternoon. Zayn knew he meant well, but he did find it a little frustrating after a while. He was trying to steer himself away from any thoughts of Niall and when he caught Louis’ big wide eyes every five minutes, it wasn’t helping his situation. 

The boy did however manage to keep a watchful eye on Zayn but also kept a wide grin for the curly haired boy who was more joyful than ever and still hadn’t picked up on Zayn’s still depressed mood. They had been wandering around the mall for around two hours and the lad had at least seven bags in his hands. Zayn didn’t even have one. 

It’s not like he hated shopping but he wasn’t exactly a fan of it, and he sure as hell knew this wasn’t Louis’ idea of a fun day, but that sap would do anything for the taller boy even if it meant cliff diving for a day, even though that sounded way cooler than walking through a bunch of stores and groaning for a couple of hours like they were now. 

He sighed and continued to stroll his way around, scanning through hideous clothes in the stores Harry loved which he couldn’t begin to understand, sipping on his Pepsi he had bought and waiting for said boy to check out so they could get their asses out of there. 

He sighed though as he saw Louis coming over to him then, his face serious, and his eyes filled with that troubled look, and Zayn instantly knew what this was going to be about. He knew it was just a matter of time before he could get him alone for a few minutes, and with Harry running himself into a dressing room with as many clothes that he could fit in his hands it was definitely going to be more than just a few. 

“Louis, I don’t really know if I’m up for talking about this right now.” He murmured, hoping the boy would just drop everything until later and leave the subject alone, but he knew that wasn’t going to be the case, even if he tried to look like he was suddenly extremely interested in the ugly clothes hanging on the rack in front of him, which he most certainly wasn’t.

“Well get up for it because you’re killing me mate.” Louis replied, making Zayn rub at his eyes because now he felt like he was getting a headache. The boy gave him a sad smile, and he couldn’t help but sigh out defeated. 

“Sorry.” He apologized, because he knew he was making this day shit for him and Harry when they were supposed to be having a good fun time together. It wasn’t often all three of them could get out and chill for the day, and Zayn was ruining it for the both of them because of his horrible mood. 

“Just tell me what’s going on in that pretty head of yours.” Louis winked at him trying to cheer him up even if it was just a little. Zayn did chuckle though and pushed at his friends shoulder. 

“Hey, watch it or I’ll tell Styles you’re hitting on me.” Zayn jokingly threatened, causing Louis to erupt into a small fit of laughter. 

“Oh shut your ass up, Harry’s not gonna listen to you.” He notified, making Zayn shrug his shoulders with a smile. He turned around then seeing Harry still closed inside of the small dressing room doors knowing he wouldn’t emerge for a little while. 

“What’s going on between you two, huh? You guys are extra close today.” He mentioned, going back to skimming the clothes rack in front of him.

“Don’t change the subject, Zayn.” Louis interjected, looking at him with reprimanding eyes while crossing his arms over his chest. “What exactly happened with Niall the other day?”

Zayn sighed then, still rifling through the clothes, letting his eyes trace the patterns on a black and white colored shirt, which was hurting his head the more he stared at it. 

He let his mind wander back then as he remembered the disgusting man who’s filthy hands were grasping Niall harshly, the foul insulting words he said, the slight pain in his hand when he slugged the guy, and the intense hurt in his heart when he realized the stress he had put the blonde through. 

“Nothing really happened, I guess.” He stated vaguely, really wishing that Louis wouldn’t question or bug him about it anymore. But Louis was shaking his head instantly, now gripping onto Zayn’s shoulder and forcing him to look at him this time. Louis wasn’t going to give this up, and he knew that. 

“If that were true then you wouldn’t be actin’ like this.” He informed him, causing Zayn to bite his lip as he averted his gaze. Talking about the entire situation later seemed to be hopeless now as Louis had him glued to his spot with those persistent eyes. 

“C’mon Louis I really-” Zayn tried to plead with him, but Louis broke him off. 

“You said you fought someone?”

“I-I didn’t fight him,” He objected instantly, a frown making it’s way to his lips. “I just punched him because he- he was touching Niall and I just couldn’t stand there and watch so-”

“So you hit him because you saw him touching his arm? His hand? His leg?” Louis interrogated him, making Zayn sigh out even deeper now. “C’mon Z, details.”

Zayn winced then, thinking of the reason on why he punched that sleezy bastard in the face that night. It still made his blood boil, and he could feel himself gritting his teeth. He then checked over both of his shoulders and behind him, before continuing to tell his story to the relentless curious boy in front of him, who was staring at him with such interest. 

“No I hit him because he accused Niall of being a prostitute.” He whispered carefully, running his hand through the clothes in front of him because he was still pissed about the entire encounter with that asshole, and talking about it wasn’t making it any better for him. 

“He what?” Louis questioned loudly, bewilderment laced in his tone. 

Zayn’s distressed eyes then came up to meet Louis’ confused one’s as he tugged out a shirt that caught his attention, which looked similar to the one Niall had wore the night of their date. He frowned as he was running his finger tips along the blue pattern on the shirt.

“He actually fucking took out his wallet Lou, like, god.” He breathed out, remembering the humiliating gesture and Niall’s embarrassed looking eyes. He was still astounded trying to wrap his head around the incident, clenching his fists then as he continued. “He was asking how much I paid for him. It was fucked up.”

“Are you serious?” He asked, and all Zayn could do was nod his head and shrug his shoulders because Louis almost looked like he didn’t believe him. 

He wished it never happened. If it didn’t damn rain all the time and it held off that night then he wouldn’t have left Niall’s side. If he would have parked closer then maybe he could have saved him from even seeing that jerk. If only he could have prevented it from ever happening, because now before he even really had Niall back in his life, he lost him again. 

“That’s why I’ve been trying to get a hold of him, but he won’t answer me, like he won’t even read my texts like he’s ignoring me completely.” He explained, pulling out his phone from his pocket, his heart dropping once again when he saw the screen was blank as usual. 

It was quiet for a minute then, with Louis just staring at him while biting his lip, and Zayn really wished he could have read his mind at the moment because the look he was giving him was making him uncomfortable. His eyes wide with contemplation with his teeth worrying his bottom lip. 

“Is it true? Did he tell you he’s, well, a-” Zayn’s eyes went wide then, and anger instantly went racing through him as he cut him off, his next words being spat right out of his mouth. 

“No he’s not a fuckin’ prostitute Louis, he didn’t say anything.” He snapped, scowling at the other boy now. “He just ignored everything when I drove him home. He said goodbye and that was all.”

“Well maybe he was embarrassed.” Louis tried again, and Zayn looked at him like he had just stated the most unintelligent thing in the entire world. 

“Well obviously, the asshole offered to pay him to have sex with him in front of me.” He reminded him, causing Louis to roll his eyes now, and Zayn knew he was pissing him off a little bit with that sassy frown now resting on Louis’ lips giving him the hint, but he didn’t care at all. 

“Yeah Zayn, that’s what a prostitute does.” He pointed out, and Zayn scoffed, looking away from him now. 

“No shit, I’m just saying.” He mumbled, clearly frustrated. 

He hadn’t wanted to talk about it, and this was exactly why. He knew he would get irritated, and speaking about it in public wasn’t making it any better. And now with Louis still looking at him with those upset eyes was angering him immensely because he couldn’t believe he was actually accusing Niall of being something that was unthinkable. 

He wanted to rip his hair out though because what Louis was proposing was absolutely insane, but then again it wasn’t so preposterous because he had actually given some thought into the idea himself. 

But it was that same possibility that was nagging at the back of his head all day long which was driving him crazy. What if it was true? What if what that man had said was the truth? It made him feel sick because why would Niall give himself up to something like that? It was unimaginable, and it pained Zayn to even consider it, but he was and that’s what was killing him.  
Louis’ hurt eyes were still attached to Zayn, but his eyes were casted downwards, anger and guilt running through his mind and his heart. 

“Well, Z I know you don’t want to hear this but maybe it’s, you know-”

“It’s not true that’s absurd Lou.” He broke in, prohibiting him to finish his sentence. He didn’t want to hear it. Not if he didn’t have any proof. It wasn’t true until he heard it from Niall himself, and it was ridiculous, because it couldn’t be true. It just couldn’t be. 

“Well, he was embarrassed, hasn’t answered you or contacted you in a week, and hasn’t denied it.” He noted counting his reasons on fingers for emphasis, but Zayn wasn’t listening anymore because this wasn’t how this conversation was supposed to go.

“Niall would never.” He whispered then, more trying to convince himself than Louis at this point. He breathed in deeply, and felt his depressed mood coming right back and hitting him full force, but he felt a reassuring hand being rested upon his shoulder, and he sighed out as he felt Louis trying to console him. 

“I know, I’m sorry, I’m just trying to help.” He smiled gently at him, and Zayn knew he meant well, and there was no way he could be mad at him for just trying to reason things out. 

But now he didn’t want to talk at all anymore about it, especially when he saw Harry coming out of the dressing room with a full pile of clothes in his hands and a giant grin on his face, clearly satisfied with how well he did with his shopping. 

He wanted to roll his eyes though when he saw Louis with all of his attention dropping from him instantly and was now ogling Harry from afar as the boy flashed his smile to the cashier behind the counter as he placed the mounds of clothes in front of her. It was cute, yet also sickening, knowing that two of his best friends were falling in love right before his eyes. 

It made him smile slightly though, because he was at least happy someone he cared for was figuring their hearts out, unlike he was, shadowed in the dark as his battered excuse of a heart was propelling itself off a cliff falling into the depths of the unknown waiting for a certain someone to come searching for it. 

“You ready to go quite yet?” Louis asked then, as Harry was now approaching him and Zayn after that twenty minute transaction, with another three giant stuffed bags in his hands, and Zayn couldn’t hold back the chuckle from inside him when he saw how the circulation in Harry’s fingers were being cut off. 

“Jesus, Harry why did you buy so much shit?” Zayn laughed then taking three of the ten bags he held now, feeling each one getting heavier by the bag.

“It’s not shit Z, it’s fashion, and I needed them, and they’re nice and they look good on me, so there.” He explained with a hint of seriousness in his voice but Zayn just shook his head slightly and smiled at the fool.

“Everything looks fine on you Harry.” Louis told him and grinned at him then. Zayn rolled his eyes once again as that sickeningly adorable, adoring smile popped onto Harry’s lips, and Louis’ cheeks tinted pink under his gaze. It didn’t take much for these two to fall into each other’s hearts. 

“Flirt some other time you two, let’s get home, I’m exhausted.” Zayn chimed in then, making the two dorks laugh before they were following Zayn’s lead out of the store doors. 

He wasn’t exactly exhausted, but he was a little bit tired, and when he checked his phone for the millionth time that day he still saw zero messages from the person he so desperately wanted to hear from. So he wasn’t just tired from his long boring day, but also of the silence he was being treated to. 

~ ~ ~

Zayn’s eyes instantly shot open as his phone was blaring through his ears, scaring the living hell out of him as he sat up quickly in his bed. He panicked at first, thinking he slept in and his boss was calling him to threaten his life because he was late for work, but when he looked over to see Louis’ name on his dimly lit phone screen, he whined out in pure agony.

He groaned and rubbed at his sleepy eyes, ignoring the call with a text, saying that he would be outside soon. He had completely forgotten that Louis was coming to get him early today so that they could walk to the little coffee shop close to their work before they started their full, long, boring day. 

He couldn’t even remember why he agreed to waking up at six thirty in the morning, and he was beginning to hate the decision more and more as he dragged himself from the comfort of his warm bed and fluffy pillow, sauntering his way towards the bathroom to throw himself together.

He knew he was going to look like an absolute mess, but he couldn’t bring himself to care at all. No one on this earth should have been awake at such an ungodly hour, and how Louis was now knocking on his door with such enthusiasm was tiring him out even more. 

“Zayn! C’mon.” He yelled so loudly like he was trying to break down the door with his voice. “You said you would be ready!” 

“Quit your whining, I’m coming.” Zayn mumbled pointlessly because he knew the boy couldn’t hear him when he was banging so harshly against the wood and Zayn was getting frustrated because it sounded like he was going to break the door down, and he would have to end him if that were the case.

He had gotten himself dressed and ready to go so quickly it was a new personal record for him that morning, and when he finally opened the door he saw how Louis had a slight pout on his face with his arms crossed over his chest. Zayn tried to sweeten him up though with a fake smile which he immediately plastered onto his face. 

“Good morning, Louis.” He greeted carefully, but the other just shook his head slowly with disappointment etched into his features.

“You look like shit, and you’re late.” He sassed, looking the boy up and down seeing his collar flipped up while his tie hung loosely around his neck with the top buttons of his shirt undone. 

Zayn couldn’t help the chuckle rumbling from inside of him as hurriedly tried to fix himself the best he could. He ruffled his hair and was running down the steps trying to catch up to Louis who’s frown had already disappeared and it gave Zayn a feeling of relief. He knew the boy wouldn’t be that mad at him, but he was definitely grateful, because having Louis angry at you was probably the worst thing in the entire world. 

He would pout and scowl at you while giving you the silent treatment and it made you want to tear your eyes out and chop off your tongue because he was brutal when he was pissed off or annoyed with you and it would last for days until he felt like forgiving you. He made the mistake once and he tried to promise he would never make the same mistake again. 

He caught up to him then while he was checking to make sure he had everything before he strayed too far from his house. All he had really needed was his folder, wallet and his phone, and when he unlocked his phone to still see no messages from a specific blonde boy he sighed deeply.

It had been another couple of days and still no response had come. He was giving up slowly with every hour that went by now, not bothering to check his phone as often, and he was trying not to even think about it. He was way more successful than he had been days earlier, but he would be lying if he had said it still wasn’t bothering him as much as it used to because it definitely was. It was killing him not knowing anything. He wanted to know what Niall felt or what he thought. He honestly just wanted to know if he was alright. 

Also what had been troubling his thoughts since last night was the phone call his parents had made to him late in the evening, asking him if he wanted to come home and spend a holiday with them for a weekend in around two weeks. He wouldn’t have minded, not at all since he would be able to see his sisters which was exciting, and he hadn’t been home in such a long while that it would be nice to see the place for a bit. 

But he knew it was not ordinary for his parents to invite him to come home, it was pretty much unheard of, but when he finally juiced the details out of them, he was mildly upset and irritated. His father had tried to convince him that he had found him the perfect woman, how she was everything that he could ever ask for and it shouldn’t have surprised him that much really, because this was the basic routine of it all.

Yet Zayn’s heart was really nagging at him to just tell him he would never be happy with a woman, ever in his entire life, but he bit his tongue and kept quiet like usual. He was a coward, and he knew it, but telling his father something like this, after all these years, he wasn’t sure he could do it just yet.

He sighed, and he knew he needed to stop letting his mind think because he knew Louis was going to pick up on it and ask him about it if he didn’t quit his moping right that instant. It was like a strange gift he possessed, being able to notice someone’s internal misery in seconds. 

When they reached the famous little coffee shop, which only took around five minutes for their walk, Louis had a bright grin on his face which was radiating off of him causing Zayn to smile as well. He did love this place and he was kind of glad he got his ass up for their delicious coffee because it was definitely worth it. 

Louis was then nodding his head at Zayn before he ran off getting in the line that was a tad bit long, but that was expected when you walked into the best coffee shop in London at this hour. People were rushing their way in and out as Zayn was looking for a table to sit at for the two of them.

Before he even sat down though, his eyes caught something familiar to the right of him. He was thinking about ignoring it, convincing himself that he imagined it, but he curiously glanced over to see a mess of blonde hair, and striking bright blue eyes and his heart crashed into his ribs as he saw Niall standing right across the room staring at him with wide nervous eyes. 

He couldn’t believe his own eyes then, as he saw Niall biting his lip, while trying to place a smile upon his face. His heart was hammering inside of him, threatening to pop from his chest right out onto the floor because how in the hell did he manage to run into him again and why was here especially so early and why was Zayn so awkward and just standing and staring at him instead of smiling or waving or anything?

He was wearing dark gray sweatpants and a white baggy sweater which had scribbling on it which Zayn couldn’t quite make out. His hair was a right mess strewn across his forehead looking disheveled and untidy but Zayn noted it made him look adorable. 

He was carefully holding a coffee cup in both of his hands, like he was trying to warm his fingers by conducting the heat. Zayn was wondering why on earth he was here so early noticing his eyes were slightly red and lidded a little bit, looking like he had just rolled out of bed, but Zayn would have been lying if he said he thought he didn’t look attractive as all hell at the moment. 

Zayn gulped, and his mind was screaming at him as he found himself walking across the shop to a now blushing blonde boy who had been ignoring him for the past ten days. He had no idea why he was approaching him because Niall obviously hadn’t wanted to talk to him or see him, but his legs just moved. He didn’t want any contact with him and he had been making it clear with his silence, but he was going over to him anyway, and there was no way he could stop himself. 

When he finally reached him, he looked as pale as could be, but his cheeks were tinted a slight pink, and Zayn’s heart was choking him now as it rested in his throat, feeling the thudding of the beats shaking his body.

“Hey.” He breathed out weakly, giving him a slight smile. Niall returned one back, as their eyes were now locked, and the awkward tension was so high they were both practically swimming in it, and Zayn really hated the awful feeling. 

His eyes darted around the cafe then for a slight second not liking their direct contact, and Zayn noticed how rough he really looked up front. He looked exhausted, and his skin was blotchy, and not to mention how nervous his body language was. 

“H-Hey.” He stammered, his fingers tapping against his cup, his head tilting towards the ground.

“So, uh, how are you?” Zayn questioned, picking at his fingers then, unsure of exactly what to say to him, but not wanting the silence to stretch on any further. It was rather awkward though, running into him when he knew he was ignoring him. At least he hadn’t knocked him on his ass this time around.

“I’m good, yeah.” He responded, his smile not fading from his face, and Zayn couldn’t help but smile back. He looked over his shoulder then seeing Louis rifling through his wallet not even noticing how Zayn had picked up a new friend.

“Good.” He said, as they were standing still and just watching each other now. Zayn knew he shouldn’t have approached him, but it was too late now, so he tried to spark a conversation.

“You’re here quite early.” He pointed out, and Niall winced and that didn’t go unnoticed by Zayn.

“Yeah, I was at uh, a friend’s house, and I have work soon so I was just stopping by here to get some caffeine.” He told him, and Zayn only nodded as Niall’s cheeks turned even redder and he scratched at nose and Zayn bit at his lips.

He was thinking about saying goodbye then as the silence went on planning on running away as fast as he could, grabbing Louis and never returning to this place, but that was ridiculous first off but he couldn’t find his voice again, unsure of what to say. 

“I- I was going to call you.” Niall blurted out then, grasping Zayn’s attention, making him blink his eyes wide. “It’s just I- the other night, it didn’t go real well. I mean it did, I- had a great time with you, but you- well yeah you know.”

Niall was tripping over his words and Zayn could see the uncertainty in his eyes, but he couldn’t help but let out a giant grin then because he had just admitted to having a good time on their date. He had actually had a nice time with Zayn and his heart was pumping faster now because that’s all he had wanted to hear for the last few days.

Niall still looked like he was shaking though, his fingers still wiggling nervously against his paper coffee cup, and Zayn couldn’t figure out why he looked so terrified and anxious, but he wasn’t going to question him about it.

“I had a great time too, Niall.” He assured him gently, stepping closer to him then as pushy people were trying to get around the two of them since they were standing in front of one of the exits. He noticed how his breath hitched as he got closer, but he pretended not to see.

“I’m sorry, I was going to call you back, but I got nervous and then busy and,” He tried to explain, now rubbing at the back of his neck trying to find the correct words to say. “I’m really sorry, Zayn.”

Zayn thought the boy in front of him was the most adorable thing in the world as he continued to twiddle his fingers and bite at his lip apologizing like crazy. He looked and sounded like he was being sincere and Zayn really couldn’t be mad at him especially when he looked at him with those precious crystal eyes. 

He was really annoyed before, knowing the boy was ignoring him on purpose, but he couldn’t stay irritated with that cute frown and those guilty eyes just staring at him with hopes of an accepted apology. Besides, he was right, their last time together wasn’t exactly perfect. He wouldn’t have known what he would have done either if he was in Niall’s position. 

He wanted to tell him that everything was alright and that he didn’t need to feel weird or embarrassed around him because of that douche of a guy from the other night, but he didn’t want to bring it up. 

He was afraid it was a sore subject at the moment and it would freak him out and cause him to run away again, and it was probably the only thing running through his head since he laid eyes on Zayn so he didn’t want to make it worse. Zayn just shook his head though, because Niall didn’t need to say anything, he just wanted to stay in touch with him. He didn’t want to be shut out from him anymore because it really killed him. 

“It’s alright, you don’t need to apologize.” Zayn assured him then, and the widest grin he had seen on Niall’s face so far appeared upon his lips and the look of relief was radiating off of him now. 

“Funny how we keep running into each other though.” He mentioned, chuckling then with his eyes squinting a little. Zayn’s heart was jumping in his chest as Niall was then flipping up the tab on his drink and taking a sip. When he pulled back, his tongue swiped out and licked the whipped cream that rested on his bottom lip, and Zayn’s insides were becoming weak.

“Yeah, you can’t get rid of me it seems like.” He joked, once again glancing over his shoulder to see Louis ordering and winking at the pretty girl behind the counter as she prepared their drinks. When he looked back to Niall though he had that same blush from earlier dusting his cheeks, maybe even darker than before.

“Well, good ‘cause I don’t want to get rid of you.” He admitted flashing him an adorable smile and Zayn couldn’t believe his ears. Yesterday he wouldn’t have believed you if you told him that he was going to get Niall back in his life because he was sure as hell they were over, but here Niall was saying he didn’t want Zayn to disappear from his life quite yet, and he couldn’t believe his ears.

“Oh yeah?” He questioned, letting a chuckle loose from inside him, feeling his mood spike into happiness and the giant depressed weight was being lifted off of his shoulders as Niall was nodding at him with that adorable upturn of his lips. 

He then looked down though as his phone went off, and the smile had faded from his lips. He had actually looked like he gulped and shuddered, but he ignored it, shoving his phone in his pocket instantly, and his head was shooting up so he could look a Zayn, his smile and bright eyes returning immediately.

“I’ll call you.” He said confidently, but he now looked like he was in a hurry, and Zayn breathed in deeply and nodded his head, while also hearing his name being called form behind him, guessing that Louis was ready for him to come get his double double coffee. 

“Promise?” He asked, pointing at him and winking, and Niall let out a laugh that captured his heart and squeezed it to death and he felt like he couldn’t breathe once again.

“Swear on it.” He said while walking backwards and waving at Zayn, pushing his foot on the exit and leaving him behind. Zayn felt his heart deflate a little as he disappeared from his view, and he was really hoping that Niall was going to keep that promise he made, as he watched the blonde head walking away from him, making him frown a little bit.

He then was jogging back over to Louis, seeing that curious look upon his face as he shoved a little bit of a chocolate chip muffin into his face. Zayn laughed but took his seat while checking the time, seeing they had about a half an hour before they needed to be at work but that couldn’t even bring Zayn’s mood down right now and he was pretty sure the face shattering smile on his lips was freaking Louis out a little bit.

“Hey, who was that pretty boy you were talking too?” Louis asked then, and Zayn blushed a little, taking his coffee from the table and bringing it up to his lips to take a sip, warming up his insides that were already on fire.

“That was Niall.” He breathed out happily, and Louis’ eyes went wide instantly almost choking on his muffin. 

“What?!” He yelled, but Zayn just shrugged his shoulders as Louis was shouting question after question at him now, which was pretty much expected. He wanted to know what happened and how he ran into him and how on earth had Zayn not told him how attractive he was and more and more and more. 

He couldn't really focus on Louis though, and just laughed and nodded at the boy who was clearly more excited about this than he was. Nothing was bothering him anymore though, not work, not his parents, or all the school work he needed to get done before tomorrow. 

All he could really think about though was that smile on Niall’s face and those promising words. He wanted to take him out again. He wanted to treat him to something special and this time have it go well. 

His mind was already fantasizing about all the possibilities and he smiled thinking of Niall’s beautiful eyes and adorable smile, and that perfect body dressed head to toe looking as gorgeous as could be. He could take him somewhere extravagant or maybe just something simple again, but he was going to make it special indeed.

Because he had another chance this time, and hope was back on his side.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this wasn't a big chapter but the next one will be better, but I hope you guys are still reading and I hope you're enjoying the story so far! Let me know what you think? :) it means a lot! Thank you!

**Author's Note:**

> Starting another fic! And I hope you guys like it and don't hate it and I hope this goes well and thank you so much for reading. Leave a comment maybe? I would love some feedback! Thank you ! Also follow me on tumblr for more fics Ziallshippingislife.tumblr.com


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